Dafydd James, the Classic Lions captain, is braced for an improved South Africa in tonight’s semi-final, kick-off 8.45pm.

The Springboks were not entirely untroubled in their 21-7 win over Italy in progressing to the last four, while the Lions hammered the United States 56-7.

James is expecting South Africa to have blown away the cobwebs and be a much tougher proposition with a final place at stake.

“They [the Springboks] are a more composed side,” he said. “They struggled a little bit with their first game against Italy, but I’m sure they will have got the cobwebs out, very much like ourselves.

“That will be a fantastic game for us, we need to regroup, look after ourselves, and we can build and go on into the final, because we haven’t been there for a number of years. We’ve come here to play rugby, first and foremost. We can enjoy ourselves after we’ve done the hard work.”